A skunk and a ladybug, neighbors but not yet friends, get advice from a wise spider who helps them learn how to share. Created by Linda Hartzell, Mark Perry and Seattle Children's Theatre and performed by the Chicago Children's Theatre, this world premiere production is the company's first effort at baby and toddler theatre.

Reviews & Ratings

Very cute; storyline was appropriate; cast did an excellent job of working around the children/parents who didn't follow seating directions. I would recommend for ages 2-4 as the younger ones that are mobile have a hard time staying in their allotted space.

Website

Quotes & Highlights

Learn more about Dot & Ziggy at the Chicago Children’s Theatre website.

Description

Dot and Ziggy may be neighbors, but they aren’t yet friends. After all, what could a ladybug and a skunk possibly have in common? One likes up, one likes down. One flies, one runs. But neither of them knows how to share. With the help of a wise spider, and the encouragement of the audience, they just might find their way.

Chicago Children’s Theatre is reaching out to a whole new demographic – babies, toddlers, and their parents who crave a fresh, fun new play experience that doubles as time well spent with your child – with the world premiere of Dot & Ziggy, the company’s first foray into the groundbreaking new world of Baby and Toddler Theatre. An ideal “mommy (or daddy) and me” opportunity for communal play, _Dot & Ziggy _encourages babies, toddlers and their parents to sit together on the floor while two storyteller/actor/musicians lead them on a stimulating journey exploring color, size and distance.

Dot & Ziggy uses non-traditional theatrical techniques to create a fully immersive storytelling experience for a brand new audience – babies and toddlers. “In addition to its highly interactive nature, Dot & Ziggy is carefully designed to eliminate the social anxiety that keeps parents with little ones away from the theater,” Jacqui Russell explains. “If your child begins to cry, jump up and down, or run around the room, nobody is going to bat an eye. That’s just one reason why Dot & Ziggy is the perfect first-time theater experience for very young children. Ultimately, our goal is for babies and toddlers, verbal and pre-verbal alike, to have fun, feel comfortable, and recognize their physical and emotional worlds through performance and playful experience."

More than just a fun, new parent/child communal play experience, parents can actually feel good about taking their wee ones to Dot & Ziggy. Early childhood arts programs are known to promote vocalization and motor skills, increase awareness of and responsiveness to movement and sound, encourage vocabulary growth, develop socialization skills, gain recognition of new aspects in the environment and stimulate the innate sense of discovery. Moreover, many studies have proven exposure to and participation in the arts at a young age is the strongest predictor of arts involvement as an adult (NEA Research Report–“Effects of Arts Education on Participation in the Arts” Louis Bergonzi and Julia Smith, 1996”).